Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2024 Supreme(All) 867

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
Hon'ble Arvind Singh Sangwan, Hon'ble Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra, JJ.
Dhruvjeet Singh – Appellant
Versus
State of U.P. – Respondent
Criminal Appeal No. - 5218 of 2016, Criminal Appeal No. - 5501 of 2016, Criminal Appeal No. - 5502 of 2016, Criminal Appeal No. - 5649 of 2016
Decided On : 24-05-2024

Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant : Amrendra Nath Singh, Amar Bahadur Singh, Anita Singh, Ankita Singh, Babu Lal Ram, Bed Prakash Rai, Gavendra Pal Singh, Mithilesh Kumar Tiwari , Nishi Mehrotra, Rajeshwar Singh
For the Respondent: G.A.,Rajesh Kumar Singh

Eyewitness testimony is crucial in establishing guilt, and the absence of motive does not negate direct evidence in murder cases.

Headnote:(A) Indian Penal Code - Sections 147, 148, 302, 307, 323, 504, 506 - Criminal Law Amendment Act - Section 7 - Arms Act - Section 3/25 - Conviction and sentencing of five accused for murder and related charges - The trial court convicted the accused based on eyewitness accounts and recovery of firearms, but the appeal court found insufficient evidence for some charges against certain accused. (Paras 1, 3, 62)

(B) Eyewitness Testimony - The court emphasized the reliability of eyewitness accounts, particularly from injured witnesses, in establishing the occurrence of the crime and the involvement of the accused. (Paras 30, 36)

(C) Recovery of Firearms - The court noted that while some firearms matched the recovered cartridges, others did not, leading to acquittals on certain charges. (Paras 49, 62)

Facts of the case:
The appellants were accused of murdering Ajay Singh, an Army personnel, during a violent altercation involving firearms, following a prior dispute over a motorcycle. The incident caused panic in the locality. (Paras 4, 30)

Findings of Court:
The court upheld the conviction of some accused for murder and related charges while acquitting others due to lack of evidence. (Paras 62, 64)

Issues: The main issues included the sufficiency of evidence linking the accused to the murder and the validity of eyewitness accounts. (Paras 30, 62)

Ratio Decidendi: The court ruled that eyewitness testimony, particularly from injured witnesses, holds significant weight, and the absence of motive does not undermine direct evidence. (Paras 32, 36)

Result: Appeals allowed in part; convictions modified and some acquitted. (Paras 62, 64)

JUDGMENT :

Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra, J.

1. Heard learned counsel for the appellants, learned counsel for the respondent No.2 and learned AGA for the State and perused the material placed on record.

2. As all these criminal appeals have arisen out of same judgement of conviction and sentence, hence, these are being decided by this common judgement:-

3. Above noted Criminal appeals have been preferred by the accused appellants namely, Dhruvjeet Singh, Vimlesh Singh, Santosh Singh, Rakesh Singh and Akhilesh with a prayer to set aside the judgment and order dated 26.9.2016, passed by Additional Sessions Judge/Special Judge Gangster Act, Court No.3, Ghazipur in Sessions Trial No.256 of 2013, State of U.P. vs. Dhruvjeet Singh and others in Case Crime No.136 of 2013, under Sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 323, 504, 506 IPC and Section 7 of Criminal Law Amendment Act and Section 3/25 of Arms Act, Police Station Gahmar, District Ghazipur, whereby, they have been convicted and sentenced as under:-

(ii) to undergo ten years rigorous imprisonment, with fine of Rs.5,000/-each and in default thereof they haveto undergo six months additional imprisonment, under Section 307/149 IPC;

(iii) to undergo six months imprisonment, with fine of Rs.1,000/- each and in default thereof they have to undergo two months additional imprisonment, under Section 323 IPC;

(iv) to undergo one year imprisonment, with fine of Rs.1,000/-each and in default thereof they have to undergo two months additional imprisonment, under Section 504 IPC;

(v) to undergo one year imprisonment, with fine of Rs.1,000/-each and in default thereof they have to undergo two months additional imprisonment, under Section 506 IPC;

(vi) to undergo two years imprisonment, with fine of Rs.1,000/-each and in default thereof they have to undergo two months additional imprisonment, under Section 147 IPC;

(vii) to undergo two years imprisonment, with fine of Rs.1,000/-each and in default thereof they have to undergo two months additional imprisonment, under Section 148 IPC;

(viii) to undergo three months imprisonment, with fine of Rs.1,000/- each and in default thereof they have to undergo one month additional imprisonment, under Section 7 of Criminal Law Amendment Act;

(ix) appellants namely, Rakesh Kumar Singh, Santosh Singh, Vimlesh Singh and Akhilesh Singh were also convicted and sentenced to undergo one year imprisonment, with fine of Rs.1,000/- each and in default thereof they have to undergo three months additional imprisonment, for charge under Section 3/25 of Arms Act. All the sentences are directed to run concurrently.

4. The prosecution case in brief is that the informant Digvijay Singh, son of Harivansh Singh, resident of Village Patti Khemanrai, Police Station Gahmar, District- Ghazipur, lodged an FIR at police station concerned on 25.4.2013, by presenting a written report (Ext.Ka1) with averment that on 25.4.2013 in the evening, his elder brother Ajay Singh, who was posted in Bengal Engineering (Army), Pune, as Hawaldar, informant, his father and uncle Shiv Shanker Singh were conversing in compound of the house, at around 20:15 hours, accused Dhruvjeet Singh arrived there with his four sons Rakesh Singh, Santosh Singh, Vimlesh Singh and Akhilesh Singh and exhorted his sons to kill informant’s side as they have increased their attitude. Thereupon, the four sons of Dhruvjeet opened fire on Ajay Singh, the elder brother of informant, indiscriminately, which hit him on chest and right hand and he fell down being seriously injured in pool of blood. The informant ran to save him but accused Vimlesh Singh hit him on his right ear by butt of his firearm. When Shiv Shanker Singh, the uncle of informant, ran to save the informant, Akhilesh Singh and Santosh Singh lifted him and dashed him on the ground. They assaulted him brutally by